 |
| HIS+ Test ... and ours. |
Meditations
for Pascha
(The Passover Season, 2016)
+ + +
Meditations for the Monastic-At-Heart
Now is My+ soul troubled;
and what shall I+ say ...
FATHER,
save ME+
from this hour ?
but for this cause
came I+ unto this hour.
FATHER,
Glorify Thy Name.
Then
came there a Voice from Heaven, saying,
I have both glorified IT,
and will glorify IT again.
John12:27-28
+ + +
Meditation Verse
Ephesians 2:2
[ from
verse 1... in trespasses and sins... ]
Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world,
according to the prince
of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience:
Literal
Greek:
... In which [trespasses and sins]
in time past you all walked
according to the age of this Kosmos (world)
according to the FIRST HIGH RULER
of the authority of
the air , of the spirit
of the one now
energetically working
in the sons of disobedience.
+ + +
Meditation
THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS; NO , NOT ONE.
We ALL have had our behavior
controlled by the evil one, the evil prince of the authority of the very air
surrounding planet earth.
The evil high prince tries
to control the ages, the eras, the eons,
of this world. The satan is energetically and actively working to
control ALL flesh, in order to destroy GOD'S highest creation.
The control is given to him
through the sin of Adam, when Adam and Eve agreed with the satan in their
behavior instead of agreeing with the LORD.
It
continues.
Daily, in every age, the control
is yielded over to the evil high ruler by
the sons of Adam who will not yield unto The LORDSHIP of JESUS
CHRIST.
True, some have never even heard
the name of JESUS CHRIST... to the shame of the church proper.
But of those who have ---
including the global leaders as well as the common people of the "civilized"
world --- the vast majority refuse to YIELD to being controlled by JESUS
CHRIST.
Sadly enough... much of the
church proper also REFUSES to AGREE with Our LORD JESUS
CHRIST. Many in our congregations fall short of giving JESUS the
control over their thoughts, their tongues, or their time.
Thus, their lives are NOT UNDER HIS+
LORDSHIP. They do not call HIM+
"Master" in their hearts.
The result?
All who are NOT controlled
by the LORD JESUS
are then controlled
by the satan.
Every act of
DIS-obedience brings a further strengthening of the power of the disobedient
prince of the power of the air.
As more and more people agree
with the satan, the spirit of disobedience is strengthened and pits itself
against the Followers of JESUS.
Even "decent" and
"up-right" persons who refuse to YIELD to the LORDSHIP of JESUS
CHRIST ... are actually under the control of the satan !
Like the pharisees of old, they
are good "enough" as is and simply do not need a Savior+ ...
because they have no sin; they are righteous in and of themselves.
Our LORD JESUS told
the very righteous Pharisees who knew the Scriptures and kept the Law of Moses
meticulously ...
"You will die in your sins."
The only person born without sin
was Our LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Even so, Scripture teaches, HE+ had the
power TO CHOOSE TO SIN if HE+ had
wanted.
The LORD JESUS could
have agreed with the satan during His+
temptation after 40 days of fasting, when HE+ was so
very, very weakened in His+ body.
Even unto the very END of His+
ministry, JESUS was tested. HE+ had the
free will to call to His+ Heavenly FATHER and
receive more than 12 legions of angels ... instead of taking up the Cross of
Crucifixion.
No, The LORD JESUS
CHRIST
did not come
as an automaton...
a "Righteous Robot."
Rather, HE+ came in
the form of a Servant --- a Servant of the Most High GOD
--- and was made in the likeness of men.
HE+ was
tempted --- tested --- in all areas like as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews
4:15 ...
For we have not an HIGH PRIEST+
WHO+ cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted
like as we are,
yet without sin.
Our LORD had the
same choices as we do, facing HIM+
constantly, when HE+ walked on earth: to do The
FATHER'S will ... or to go His+ own way.
Because HE+ came as
the Second Adam and was made in the likeness of men, HE+ constantly
had a choice:
What was easier on His+ flesh,
His+ emotions, His+ Self...
--- OR ---
to do what The FATHER
wanted HIM+ to do
to accomplish the Work
to beat the satan,
loosening man from
the satan's IRON-CLAD grip.
What did
HE+ choose ?
And HE that
sent ME+ is with ME+:
The FATHER hath not left ME+
alone;
for I + do always those things
that please HIM.
John 8:29
I do
always those things that please My+ FATHER, is what
JESUS said.
And being found in fashion
as a man
HE+ humbled Himself+
and became obedient
unto death,
even the DEATH
of the CROSS.
How often do WE deny the flesh
in order to please The FATHER?
How often do we seek the
UNcomfortable conditions surrounding our FATHER'S Will
rather than what is comfortable for us ?
+ + +
Let
us pray:
Dear Heavenly FATHER, we say
"Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," but we do not do it,
neither collectively nor individually.
We labor so strenuously at
our jobs that we do not have any strength left over to do Your Work , Your
Will, Your Way.
We hide our faces from the
hard choices we must make in order to do Your Work, O FATHER.
We have neglected to do even
the easy, at-home tasks of fasting, praying, and sitting in QUIETUDE before
THEE... much less doing anything more that would require a denial of our
comfortable, chosen life-style.
O LORD, we badly need the
fire.
Help us --- help me
--- to choose Thy Will, to choose the Cross with its rough conditions, for Thy
Name's sake.
Help me ... help us all ...
to deny our Self in order to expend our lives in labor for Your Kingdom, in
accord with Your Will and purpose for our lives.
In the Name of JESUS CHRIST
Thy SON+ Who+ chose the rough Cross for my sake, I pray. Amen.
+ + +
Worthy is the LAMB+.
Worthy is The LAMB+
that was slain.
Worthy is the LAMB+,
slain
from the foundation
of the earth.
Revelation 13:8
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PRAISE and THANKSGIVING
be to The FATHER,
and to HIS
Beloved SON+
JESUS CHRIST,
and to
the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT.
ONE GOD:
FATHER,
SON+,
and HOLY SPIRIT,
both now and forever,
world without end.
Amen.
